Method of stiffening a shoe upper



Oct. 22, 1968 BECKA ET AL 3,406,415

METHOD OF STIFFENlNG A SHOE UPPER Filed Feb. 27, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-3 INVENTORS Michael M-Bec/(a Robe/f B. He/d BY ATTV' Oct. 22, 1968 BECKA ET AL 3,406,415

METHOD OF STIFFENlNG A SHOE UPPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1967 Oct. 22, 1968 gECKA ET AL 3,406,415

METHOD OF STIFFENlNG A SHOE UPPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 27, 1967 United States Patent 3,406,415 METHOD OF STIFFENING A SHOE UPPER Michael M. Becka, Norwell, and Robert B. Field, Cambridge, Mass., assignors to Jacob S. Kamborian, West Newton, Mass.

Filed Feb. 27, 1967, Ser. No. 618,786 Claims. (Cl. 12-146) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed herein the stiffening of a shoe upper by incorporating interiorly of the upper a mixture of two starting liquids that are so constituted that the liquids rigidity with the passage of time without any dissipation of gas or vapor and without any loss of weight.

The desirability of stiffening of a shoe upper by means of a counter at the heel of the upper or a box toe at the toe of the upper is well known. One of the types of stifleners known in the prior art is of the thermosetting type. These stiffeners are initially soft and flaccid and are caused to permanently rigidity to a hard and rigid shape sustaining condition while incorporated in the shoe upper and forced against a last on which the upper is mounted so that the stiffener will conform to the shape of the last. Stifleners of this type have the advantage of remaining permanently in their shape sustaining form, once they have rigidified, but have the disadvantage of dissipating vapor or gas pursuant to their rigidification. In the confined quarters in which the stifleners are confined during their rigidification, the vapor or gas has difiiculty in escaping to atmosphere and the rigidification is therefore unduly delayed. In addition, the vapor or gas may deleteriously afiect the upper or adversely affect its asthetic appearance. Further, the quantity of materials necessary'to make a finished stiflener having the desired bulk or mass is difficult to predict due to the loss of weight that takes place as a result of the dissipation of the vapor or gas.

This invention retains the advantages of the thermosetting stiffener while avoiding the aforementioned disadvantage by making the stiffener out of a mixture of two liquid starting materials that rigidity with the passage of time after mixture without any loss of weight and without dissipating any vapor or gas.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the interior of the heel portion of an upper having a liner secured thereto to form a counter pocket;

FGURE 2 is a view of a counter;

FIGURES 3, 3A, 4, 4A, 5 and 6 show a shoe assembly, that comprises the counter in the counter pocket, as it is acted on by the instrumentalities of a heel lasting machine, FIGURE 3A being taken on the line 3A3A of FIGURE 3 and FIGURE 4A being taken on the line 4A-4A of FIGURE 4;

FIGURES 7, 7A, 7B, 8 and 8A show the shoe assembly as it is acted on by the instrumentalities of a toe lasting machine, FIGURES 7A and 7B being respectively taken on the lines 7A--7A and 7B7B of FIGURE 7 and FIGURE 7A, and FIGURE 8A being taken on the line 8A8A of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 9 is a view of the shoe assembly having a ribbon of cement applied to its insole; and

FIGURE 10 is a view of the shoe assembly being acted on by a side lasting machine.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a shoe upper 10 is provided that has a liner 12 united thereto by a seam 13 at the heel end of the upper. The liner and upper define a pocket adapted to receive a counter or stiffener 14 (FIG- ice URE 2). The counter comprises a carrier made of an absorbent or porous material such as knitted paper or non-woven fabric.

Either prior to or after insertion into the pocket, the carrier is saturated with a fluent material that is so constituted that it is converted from its fluent state to a permanently hard and rigid shape sustaining condition with the passage of time. The material has the characteristic of being adherent under pressure while in its fluent condition. The fluent material is made by the intimate mixture of two starting liquids, and the reaction of the mixture of the two starting liquids is such as to create an addition reaction between them. An addition reaction is defined as a reaction that results in the conversion, with the passage of time, of the mixture to a hard and rigid solid without any loss of weight and without the passing off of any gas or vapor.

Starting liquids which provide an addition reaction when mixed are, of themselves, known. One example, used in connection with this invention, is a mixture of 7 parts by weight of Versamid 125, a polyamide resin supplied by General Mills, Inc., and 4 parts by weight of Genepoxy 190, an epoxy resin also supplied by General Mills, Inc.

Another example of starting liquids used in connection with this invention is a product called Stycast CPO-23 that is supplied by Emerson and Cuming, Inc. This product is supplied in the form of two liquids, one of which is an isocyanate and the other of which is a catalyst. T he-mixture used was composed of 10 parts by weight of the isocyanate and 6 parts by weight of the catalyst.

While the above described mixtures will rigidify with the passage of time at ambient temperatures, the rigidfication is accelerated when the starting liquids are heated prior to mixture or the mixture itself is heated either before or after its application to the carrier.

The upper 10, with the counter 14 inserted in the pocket, is draped about a last 16 (FIGURES 3 and 3A) having an insole 18 secured to its bottom. The margin of the heel portion of the upper extends away from the insole and the counter 14 lies entirely within the counter pocket so that it is not located inwardly of the upper margin. The shoe assembly, comprising the last, upper and insole is then presented to a heel lasting machine, such as that shown in pending application Ser. No. 353,462 filed Mar. 20, 1964, where it is placed bottom up on a last supporting plate 20 and a last pin 22 with its toe portion resting on a toe rest roller 24 and the forepart portions of the upper inserted between the jaws of pincers 26. The pincers 26 are then closed to grip the forepart portions of the upper and are moved away from the heel of the shoe assembly to stretch the upper about the heel of the last. The counter 14, which is constituted by the carrier 14 saturated with the fluent mixture, is flaccid and moldable at this time due to the fluent material not yet having rigidified. The tension stresses created by the pincers movement therefore causes the heel of the upper 10 and the counter 14 to conform to the shape of the heel portion of the last 16 with the fluent material of the counter adhering to the contiguous portions of the upper and the liner 12. A hold-down foot 28 (FIGURES 4 and 4A) is now positioned above the shoe assembly after which the shoe assembly, together with the last pin 22, the last supporting plate 20, the toe rest 24 and the pincers 26 are raised in unison until the insole 18 bears against the hold-down foot 28. After this, the pincers 26 are raised to stretch the upper tightly on the last while the shoe assembly is clamped between the plate 20 and the hold-down foot 28 to thereby stretch the top line 29 (FIGURE 3A) of the upper tightly on the last.

At this time a hollow heel clamp pad 30 is caused to move from 'the' position shown in phantom in FIGURE 4 to the solid line position and the pad is inflated by pressurized air passing into a cavity 32 in the pad (FIG- URE 4A) to thereby cause the pad to apply a compressive stress to the upper and counter which auguments the tension stress imparted by the pincers 26 in causing the heel of the upper and the counter to conform to the shape of the heel of the last.

Now a bead of cement 34 (FIGURE 4) is applied to the periphery of the heel portion of the insole 18 by any desired mechanism, as, for example, the mechanism shown in pending application Ser. No. 562,136, filed July 1, 1966. This is followed by a movement of heel wipers 36 from the FIGURE 5 to the FIGURE 6 position, through a heel wiping stroke, to wipe or fold the margin of the heel portion of the upper against the insole and adhesively attach the upper margin to the insole by means of the cement bead 34. The pincers 26 are opened to release the forepart portions of the upper during the heel wiping stroke. At or near the end of the heel wiping stroke, the hold-down foot 28 is raised to cause the insole 18 to bear directly against the bottoms of the heel wipers 36 and, at the same time, the upwardly directed force of the shoe assembly is increased to provide bedding pressure between the insole and the wiper bottoms. After the bedding pressure has been applied for a desired time, the shoe assembly is released from the heel lasting machine with the heel portion of the upper margin securely attached to the insole.

The pressures generated during the heel wiping stroke had created stresses which had augmented the stresses imparted by the pincers 26 and the pad 30 to aid in conforming the heel portion of the upper to the shape of the last. When the shoe assembly is released from the heel lasting machine there is therefore very little, if any, slack created between the heel portion of the upper and of the counter 14 on the one hand and the heel portion of the last 16 on the other hand despite the fact that the counter is still in its fluent, moldable condition.

The shoe assembly is now presented to a toe lasting machine such as that disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 472,525, filed July 16, 1965.

Referring to FIGURES 7, 7A and 7B, the shoe assembly is placed bottom-down on an applicator-support 38 with the toe portion of the last 16 bearing against retarders 40 and 42, the toe end of the upper margin between the open jaws of a front pincers 44 and each of the forepart portions of the upper margin between the open jaws of a side pincers 46. The front and side pincers are caused to close on the upper margin. Then the front pincers 44 is caused to move downwardly and away from the last and the side pincers 46 are moved downwardly with respect to the last to the FIGURES 8 and 8A position to stretch the toe portion of the upper margin about the last. This stretching action causes the heel portion of the upper margin to be stretched toewardly so that a stress is again applied to the heel porion of the upper and the still flaccid counter to cause it to again conform to the shape of the heel portion of the last and take out any of the slack that may have been created between the heel portion of the upper 10 and of the counter 14 on the one hand and the heel portion of the last 16 on the other hand when the shoe assembly was released from the heel lasting machine.

After this, in a manner fully described in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 472,525, a ribbon of cement 48 (FIGURE 9) is applied through the applicator-support 38 against the periphery of the toe portion of the insole 18 and the toe portion of the upper margin is wiped against the insole by the movement of toe wipers 50 (FIGURE 7) through a toe wiping stroke and is adhesively attached thereto by means of the cement ribbon 48. Mechanism is provided to maintain the upper margin in the stretched condition caused by the pincers 44 and 46 up to and through the toe wiping stroke.

At the completion of the toe wiping operation the toe and heel portions of the upper 10 are cementatiously attached to the insole 10 as indicated in FIGURE 10 and these portions of the upper are firmly anchored to the last 16 so that the stresses imparted to the upper to cause the heel portion of the upper and the counter 14 to conform to the shape of the last are retained when the shoe assembly is released from the toe lasting machine until the shoe assembly is disassembled from the last.

The shoe assembly is now presented to a side lasting machine 52 similar to that shown in Patent No. 3,146,126, where the side portions of the upper margin, between the wiped toe and heel portions, are wiped against the insole and cementatiously attached to the insole.

After this, the conventional succeeding shoe making operations, such as bottom roughing and outsole laying, are performed on the shoe assembly. This is followed by disassembling the shoe assembly from the last 16.

The timing of the addition reaction of the starting materials of the counter 14 is such that the rigidification of the counter takes place at a time between the completion of the toe wiping operation and the disassembly of the shoe assembly from the last. Therefore, at the time that the counter becomes rigid and shape sustaining, it is under the stresses that cause it to conform to the shape of the heel of the last, which shape is maintained in the completed shoe.

Unlike thermoplastic counters, which soften when subjected to heat, the counter 14 will retain its shape permanently in the completed shoe regardless of the heat to which the shoe may be subjected to.

Since the counter is rigidified by means of an addition reaction, there is no dissipation of gas or vapor pursuant to its rigidification. The dissipation of such gas or vapor would tend to unduly delay the rigidification of the counter while it is in the confined space between the upper 10 and the liner 12 since the gaseous material or vapor could not readily escape to atmosphere. In addition, depending on the nature of the gaseous material or vapor and the construction of the upper and liner, such dissipation could deleteriously affect the upper or liner or adversely affect its esthetic appearance.

In addition, with the addition reaction, as contrasted with a reaction involving the dissipation of gas or vapor, there is no loss of bulk or mass in the counter during its rigidification. This is highly desirable as one can provide the desired quantities of the starting materials necessary to produce the desired bulk or mass of the completed counter having the desired cross-sectional configuration without having to take into account the amount of the material that will be dissipated during the rigidification of the counter.

While in the foregoing illustrative embodiment of the invention the stiffener is disclosed as being a counter used to stiffen the heel portion of an upper, the invention has utility in stiffening other portions of an upper. The stiffener, for example, may be a box toe used to stiffen the toe portion of the upper.

It is also Within the purview of the invention to have a stilfener that does not incorporate a carrier as, for example, by injecting the starting materials directly into the pocket formed by the upper and the liner.

We claim:

1. A method of stiffening a selected portion of a shoe upper, while the upper is mounted on a last so that shoe manufacturing operations may be performed thereon, comprising: locating between said upper portion and the corresponding portion of the last a stiffener that is comprised of a mixture of two starting materials so constituted that the mixture is initially fluent and converts with the passage of time by an addition reaction effected in response to the mixture of the two starting materials to a hard and rigid shape sustaining condition; imparting a stress to said upper while the mixture is still fluent to cause the selected upper portion 5 and the stiffener to conform to the contour of the corresponding portion of the last; and releasing said stress subsequent to the lapse of suflicient time to enable the addition reaction to convert the stiifener to said shape sustaining condition.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein a liner is secured to the interior of said upper portion to thereby form a pocket between the upper and the liner, and the stiffener is inserted into said pocket.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 'wherein said mixture is so constituted as to be adherent under pressure in its fluent condition whereby the stiifener is caused to adhere to the upper and liner while it is under said stress.

4. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein said stiff- 6 ener comprises a porous carrier that is saturated with said mixture.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 wherein said mixture is so constituted as to be adherent under pressure in its fluent condition whereby the stifiener is caused to adhere to the upper and liner while it is under said stress.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,344,458 3 1944 COlella. 3,035,292 5/1962 Heaton et al. 3,115,651 12/1963 Kamborian. 3,239,861 3/ 1966 Langlais.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

